Stimulating culinary and aesthetic sensations await the adventurous gourmand at the delightfully redesigned Rain Tree Café.
As the restaurant’s host hotel, Plaza Athénée Bangko, A Royal Méridien, is built on the site of the summer palace of H.R.H. Princess Valaya Alongkorn, a daughter of King Rama V, it offers a modern interpretation of the Thai neo-colonial interior décor style that the princess inhabited in her lifetime.
A key element in the hotel’s extensive redesign program that won the prestigious “Five Star Asia Pacific Property Hotel Interior Thailand Award 2014-2015”, The Rain Tree Café offers three distinct areas evidencing extreme elegance interwoven with threads of touching homeliness.
The princess’s reputation as a culinary connoisseur inspires the menus that today include only serving International Foundation of Organic Agriculture Movements certified organic rice grown by the Truth of Grain Network in Isarn’s Amnat Charoen Province.
The main buffet and seating area, “The Bronze Kitchen”, is indeed very bronze in a classic kitchen style, while seating offers modern mouldings of aristocratic elegance. Overhead the ceiling is geometrically dimpled, faux halogen-lit for antique effect and enchantingly corniced. Various floor coverings – black and white chequers, finely filigreed ceramics, smooth marble and lustrous hardwoods – are used to define different spaces. Colourful cushions are strewn on the earth tones and autumn tints-upholstered arm chairs and sofas.
A formal library-style “VIP” space, “The Valaya Room”, is carved out of a front corner situated immediately adjacent to tree-lined Wireless Road. Above the marble floor, antique bronzed ceiling mirrors expand the dimensions and resonate a heritage mystique. The thought-provoking ambiance is furnished with precious volumes and prized possessions.
The “Secret Garden” lends itself to private parties, extravagant dinners and afternoon high teas. Beyond extensive glass-encased wine displays, The Rain Tree Café includes an outdoor terrace.
High technology hot and cold induction equipment ensures every dish reaches the diner in perfect condition. A wide array of interactive live cooking stations typically includes Asian noodles, pasta, wok fries and grills, added with foie gras and others for the gargantuan Sunday Brunch.
With the aim to offer a la carte quality throughout, each of the hotel’s specialist head chefs – Smooth Curry Thai restaurant’s Chef Jasvir, Utage Japanese restaurant’s Chef Samart, Silk Road Cantonese restaurant’s Chef Kham, The Reflexions European restaurant’s Chef Mark, plus the executive pastry chef and Indian Subcontinent specialist Chef Karan – each prepare specialty dishes.
The award-winning buffets also regularly feature Cantonese and Indian corners, ripe cheeses and Executive Pastry Chef’s exquisite desserts selection, ranging eight daily flavours of ice cream and extravagant toppings to a peerless blueberry cheesecake, to name but a few.
Serious Seafood Fridays (dinner) & Saturdays (lunch & dinner) include freshly cooked Maine lobster & Fines de Clair oysters, tiger prawns, mussels, Alaskan king crab & fish carvings. Saturday editions include a special live kitchen by one of the hotel’s dedicated restaurants.
Exceptionally Indulgent Sunday Brunch features all the above plus sumptuous seafood and gourmet a la carte selections, surprise popup kitchens and over-the-top a la carte and passaround menus. Not to mention De Zaan Belgium grand crus chocolate desserts and refreshing beverages shaken to order by specialist mixologists.
The Rain Tree Café
– Tel 02 650 8800
– email fb.bangkok@lemeridien.com
This source first appeared on Bangkok Post Lifestyle.